Badge of Honour

The movie Up is still on my mind. In the movie when Ellie and Carl first become friends, she pins a homemade bottle cap badge on him.  At the end of the movie he pins the "Ellie" badge on his new friend Russell who has gone to great lengths to get his last badge for the Wilderness Explorer. I have two very special badges in my life. I spent 13 years of my life going through the Girl Guides of Canada program, and I was awarded every badge available, but my two special badges came from two of my friends. 

Though I have not blogged about it yet, giving blood has been one of the greatest accomplishments in the past few years. I have ALWAYS wanted to do it, and after months of training, I was finally able to give. I was so excited to receive my "1st time" pin, because donating blood was such a big deal. My mom even framed my letter that came with my blood donor card! The sad news was that the clinic I went to did not give out the pins, or stickers, and the third time I gave blood I had to be rushed home, so I did not get my "3rd Time" zipper pull. Even though I was very satisfied with my donation, I was still a little sad that I did not get these little tokens that represented (what I consider) a lot of training and a large ordeal.

The good news? I have two Carls in my life. A while after my first donation, my neighbour surprised me with a gift. It was HER "1st Time Donor" pin. It meant SO much to me, not only because I didn't get one, but because she knew the work I put into donating and she gave me her pin, the pin I'm sure that meant a lot to her. 

My other Carl recently donated blood for his third time, and surprised me with HIS "3rd Time Donor" zipper pull. It was so wonderful. To many these little badges mean very little, but to me they mean a lot. 

I keep both of my badges on my favourite jacket, which I wear whenever I can. This is just a reminder of how powerful small actions can be.

I wonder what badges I have given,

but more importantly I wonder what ones I CAN give.